KoolKIDS (Primary School)
KooLKIDS is a self-regulatory intervention that has been developed by staff at The University of Queensland and The University of Western Australia to empower children aged 7 to 11 years to live well with themselves and others by knowing their strengths and their emotions and by learning empathy and friendship skills. The development of the KooLKIDS model and intervention is based on over 15 years of research by the key researchers (Associate Professor Annemaree Carroll and Professor Stephen Houghton) who have extensive experience in early intervention and prevention efforts and self-regulatory processes of children and adolescence.
There are four modules that are based on the ‘KooL’ acronym:
K = Know yourself
O = understanding Our needs and emotions
O = understanding Others needs and emotions
L = Live well with others
There are various tips sheets developed for parents and teachers around the ‘KIDS’ acronym.
K = Keep it simple
I = It’s about accommodation
D = Describe what you like
S = Set clear boundaries
There are two KooKIDS program formats:
KooLKIDS Class Program
The KooLKIDS Class Program is a whole of class emotional resilience program to assist all children to develop the skills necessary to live a positive, fulfilling life by feeling connected to themselves, their friends, their class work and their school. The KooLKIDS Class Program contains 13 sessions with three sessions centred around each of the four modules and a final celebration session.
KooLKIDS Intensive (Individual/Group Program)
The major goal of the KooLKIDS Intensive program is to assist children who have social, emotional and behavioural difficulties to re-engage in the learning process if they are at-risk of disengaging or being suspended from school. There are five whole-of-class and eight individual sessions (one whole-of-class and two individual sessions centred around each of the four modules, and one final whole-of-class celebration session).